Analysing The Child Sex Offender

Psychoanalyst and author Susie Orbach reviews the latest research with experts in the field, to establish how far we understand the psychology of the child sex offender.

Research shows that 10% of children (7% of boys, 16% of girls) have been sexually abused. While high profile cases hit the press at intervals - Savile and Rochdale recently, Cleveland and Orkney in the past - the abuse is going on consistently. The evidence shows that most sexual abuse is not committed by high profile offenders, but by family members or acquaintances within the home.

Susie Orbach discusses the issue with Anthony Beech, Professor in Criminological Psychology at Birmingham University, consultant clinical psychologist Jackie Craissati, Head of Psychology for Forensic Services with Oxleas NHS Trust, Julia Davidson, Professor in Criminology & Sociology at Kingston University, and James Cantor, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Together they look at who offends and why, whether treatment works, and why society finds the issue so difficult to confront and deal with consistently.

Producers: Marya Burgess and Sarah Bowen.

Psychotherapist and author Susie Orbach investigates the mind of the child sex abuser.